Set Up Communication from Headquarters PBX to Branch PBX

Once a trunk links your headquarters Cloud Voice system to a branch PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system that serves a single site), the two systems can exchange signaling, but calls will not flow until each side knows what to do with them. This page covers the two routes that make headquarters-to-branch calling work: an outbound route on the headquarters Cloud Voice system that pushes calls onto the trunk, and an inbound route on the branch PBX that receives those calls and delivers them to the right extension.

How the call is routed

Two pieces work together, one on each system:

System	What you build
Headquarters Cloud Voice	An outbound route that sends matching calls out over the trunk
Branch PBX	An inbound route that accepts the calls and points them at the branch extensions

The diagram below traces a single call from a headquarters extension, across the trunk, to its destination in the branch office.

Note

This page assumes the inter-office trunk between the two systems is already built and online. The routes here only tell each system what to do with calls once that trunk exists. Both routes reference that same trunk: the outbound route selects it on the headquarters side, and the inbound route selects it on the branch side.

Set up the outbound route on headquarters Cloud Voice

The outbound route decides which dialed numbers leave over the branch trunk and which extension users are allowed to use it.

1. Sign in to the PBX web portal of the headquarters Cloud Voice system and go to Call Control > Outbound Route.

2. Click Add.

3. Fill in the route:

   1. Under General, give the route a name you will recognize later.

   2. Under Dial Pattern, set the dial rules that decide which numbers use this route. For this example, leave the defaults in place.

      Caution

      The dial pattern is the filter that decides whether a call uses this route at all. It must permit the branch’s extension numbers (for example 2000-2050). If the pattern does not match what your users dial, the call never reaches the trunk and headquarters-to-branch calling silently fails.

   3. Under Trunk, move the trunk you created for the branch PBX from the Available box to the Selected box.

      

   4. Under Extension/Extension Group, move every extension from the Available box to the Selected box so that all of your headquarters users can dial the branch.

      Tip

      Only the extensions and groups you move into Selected can use this route. If only some staff should be able to reach the branch, move just those extensions or groups instead of all of them.

4. Click Save, then Apply.

   Caution

   Changes are not live until you click Apply. Saving alone stores the route but does not activate it, so calls will not use it until you apply. This applies to both procedures on this page.

Set up the inbound route on the branch PBX

The inbound route on the branch side catches the incoming calls, reads the dialed number, and hands each call to the matching branch extension.

1. Sign in to the PBX web portal of the branch PBX and go to Call Control > Inbound Route.

2. Click Add.

3. Fill in the route:

   1. Under General, give the route a name you will recognize later.

   2. Under DID Pattern, define how dialed numbers map to extensions. DID (Direct Inward Dialing) is the number the caller actually dialed, which here is a branch extension number.

      

      • DID Matching Mode: Choose Match DID Range to Extension Range.
      • DID Range: Enter the branch extension range. In this example, that is 2000-2050.

      Note

      With range matching, a dialed number that falls inside the DID range is delivered straight to the extension that shares that number.

   3. Under Caller ID Pattern, set any caller ID matching you need. For this example, leave the defaults in place.

   4. Under Trunk, move the trunk you created for the headquarters Cloud Voice system from the Available box to the Selected box.

      

   5. Under Default Destination, choose where matched calls land:

      

      1. In the Default Destination drop-down, select Match Extension Range.
      2. In the extension range field, enter the branch extension range. In this example, enter 2000-2050.

      Caution

      The range you enter here must match the branch’s real extension numbers, and it must match the DID Range you set in the DID Pattern step. If the two ranges disagree, or either one misses an extension, calls to those numbers will not reach the intended phone.

4. Click Save, then Apply.

Test the connection

Place a call between the two sites to confirm the routes work. For example, when extension 1000 at headquarters dials 2000, extension 2000 in the branch office should ring.

Note

These two routes enable calling in one direction only: headquarters to branch. To let branch extensions call headquarters as well, build the mirror image of this setup: an outbound route on the branch PBX and an inbound route on the headquarters Cloud Voice system.